Last May Russia announced – what it called – a historic deal with China on natural gas deliveries. Now, several months later Gazprom is talking up the idea of constructing a ‘Western route’ for natural gas deliveries to China.
The Altai pipeline as the project is called would tap into the same Western Siberian resources which are currently destined for Europe. If successful, the project would grant Russia greater market power and enable it to play two big customers against each other.
Yet, what are the prospects for the deal given that Russia and parts of its energy sector are placed under US and EU sanctions? Moreover, how much is China truly willing to pay for the gas in light of the low price they agreed to in the deal of last May? Anadolu News Agency from Turkey interviewed Sijbren de Jong on the matter.
The whole interview can be read here.